How do birth defects happen? What goes wrong in the embryo? These perennial questions were brought into sharp focus in the wake of the thalidomide catastrophe (1958–1962). How did thalidomide mutilate the embryo? Despite research efforts, these questions have remained unanswered.

Beyond thalidomide examines the neural crest theory in breadth and depth, incorporating evidence from clinical medicine, radiology, biology, pharmacology, neurology, neuroanatomy and neuropathology. Key publications, some now out of print, are restored to their rightful places in the thalidomide saga and background information is provided to help the general reader gain a better understanding of the sciences involved. It will be of particular interest to those involved with birth defects – obstetricians, neonatologists, paediatricians – and also neurologists, scientists in teratology and developmental biology, and thalidomiders themselves.